chapter fifthteen Flashcards
rump struggled to maintain authority after 1649 or during the
interregnum
a source of division between the army and the rump was
the dutch war
the army saw the protestant , mainly merchant class dutch republic as a natural ally because
during the years of laudian prosecution , the religiously tolerant dutch republic was a haven for many English radicals
however the dutch lost their economic advantages when the rump passed the
navigation act of 1651
the navigation act of 1651 specified that only
English ships should bring goods into England and its colonies and only English ships should bring fish into England
there were escalating clashes at sea until a full naval engagement in
may 1652
pushed the two countries to war
the dutch war only created practical problems but also storey army resentment over money being spent on the
navy instead of the army swell as the rumps use of the navy as a political counterweight to the army
the army also disliked fighting against another
protestant republic
the army get increasingly frustrated with
the rumps limited reform
while there was a core of republicans who dominated the rump many of the MPs were
relatively conservative and had not wanted to monarch removed
they sought to limit the revolution probably only x should be classes as revolutionaries
15%
there were a number of reasons for the rumps conservatism
- 41 MPs on the council of state , 33 refused to swear an oath approving regicide and abolition of monarchy and HoL
- economics , not funds to initiate extensive reform
- security , threat ireland and Scotland and Europe meant establishing a regime was a priority more than a reform
- fear of radical groups made MPs fearful of religious radical reform
- the dutch war became the focus of the Rump
there were two key problems contributing to the failure of the rump
- PNs conservative demands for a return to normality were set against a radical minority . especially in the army who wanted to see further social legal and economic reforms continuing from 1649
- the relationship between parliament and the NMA was fragile . parliament could only function only under the protection of the army that held real power
these were the contradictions of the rump , it was seen as too radical by the traditional PN but too
moderate by the NMA
it was the rumps attempt to appeal to the PN in order to consolidate its position after the revolution that made some including
the army , regard the regime as too conservative
none of the recommendations of The Hale commission which was established in 1652 to
consider reform of the law were put into action
the Presbyterian system set up between 1644 ands 1648 remained in place and moves to abolish
tithes received little support
in 1650 measures against religious non conformity particularly the blasphemy act of august 1650 marked
the rump as even more religiously conservative than the army wanted
despite this conservatism , the rump did introduce some reform . in September 1650 the rump bought an end to
compulsory attendance of the national church , and decided that all legal proceedings would be in English rather than latin
the rump established acts for ‘ propagation ‘ off the gospel in
Wales , ireland and the north
these reforms were key measures for millenarian army leaders such as
Thomas Harrison who wanted what they saw as less godly areas too be converted to their own views
the main issue for the army was the rumps failure to introduce
constitutional reform
the armies dissapointment with the rump was voiced and grew s their victories in ireland and Scotland made them more
convinced that this moment needed to be seized to establish godly rule
until there army had completed the crushing of the Irish and Scots the army was not in a position too
put pressure on the rump
Cromwell was concerned about the rumps lack of progress he valued
army unity over parliamentary authority
in the winter of 1652-53 Cromwell acted as a moderator between the army and the rump and securing a date for
parliament to dissolve itself in November 1653
